The Dover School Board considered the possibility of hiring a resource officer at its monthly meeting earlier this week, a process that could be complicated by funding issues.

Currently, the district does not have a paid resource officer. In the past, the school has worked in conjunction with the Pope County Sherriff’s Office and Dover Marshal, who would appoint an officer to come visit the schools at different points in the day.

But with the growing concern over school safety in light of recent school shootings, the district is revisiting the possibility of hiring an officer.

“We’ve looked at it in the past several times, and the recent shootings just made us re-examine it,” superintendent Jerry Owens said. “The day in age we’re in, we have to be proactive and know this is probably something that’s coming.”

Funding, however, will be the main obstacle in hiring a resource officer, and the district has assembled a committee to explore different options on how to get funding for an officer.

“We’d [hire an officer] today if we had the funding,” Owens said.

At the board meeting, Owens also stated his intentions to retire upon completion of his current contract, which runs through the end of the 2014 school year.

“It’s a good time [to retire],” Owens said. “We’ve got a really good situation. We have a great board and great schools. This is the best school board I’ve worked with.”

“I wanted to give the board plenty of time to think about hiring a replacement.”